The popularity of recreational cycling has grown substantially in recent years. As a result, the demand for bicycle carriers to transport bikes on cars and other vehicles has also grown.
There are various types of vehicle-mountable bicycle carriers available. One type is mountable on the rear hitch-mount of a vehicle to carry one or more bicycles adjacent the rear of the vehicle or ones mountable to the trunk of a vehicle. These types of carriers are usually configured to receive and hold the bike frame top tube in a saddle. One or more straps may be positioned around the bicycle to secure it to the carrier. Typically, the straps must be pulled tightly around the bicycle to hold it securely during normal driving speeds and conditions. Some users may find it difficult to apply sufficient tension to the strap. In addition, some users find it difficult to secure the strap while maintaining the desired tension. Furthermore, even normal acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle can cause the bicycles to swing or become misaligned on the rack, resulting in damage to the bikes and/or the vehicle.
Therefore, many bicycle carriers include stabilizers to further secure the bicycle to the bicycle carrier and prevent the bike from swinging forward to backward in its saddle. However, many of these stabilizers utilize a spool or hourglass shape that cannot accommodate different cross-sectional sizes/diameters of seat tube. This can often result in difficulties in adequately securing the bicycle to the bicycle carrier, and, therefore may result in damage to the bicycle, bicycle carrier, or even the vehicle.